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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Tolstoy describe Marya and Sergey's feelings for each other?

2. How does Tolstoy describe Dmitri's thoughts about love?

3. Does Stepanida have Eugene Irtenev's child?

4. How does Tolstoy say Ivan Ilych felt upon taking his position at the Court of Justice?

5. How does Tolstoy say Cossack men view their wives?

Short Essay Questions

1. What intrudes to make Marya unhappy?

2. Who is Eugene Irtenev and where does he live at the beginning of the story?

3. How has Marya's attitude about marriage changed by the end of the story?

4. What does Ivan Ilych learn on his deathbed?

5. What does Dmitri Olenin think he will find in the Caucasus?

6. How does Praskovya Federovna's bad temper affect Ivan Ilych?

7. How does Tolstoy describe Eugene Irtenev's marriage with Liza Annenskaya?

8. What torments Eugene Irtenev, and how does he plan to end his suffering?

9. How does Dmitri go about confessing his love to Maryanka?

10. What causes Sergey and Marya's relationship to blossom?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Some of Tolstoy's characters learn and grow, but some, like Ivan Ilych's wife, remain consistently bound to their temperament. Analyzing characters who are bound by temperament, assess the theory of temperament in Tolstoy's writing. Are people free to develop, or are they bound by their characters, in Tolstoy's opinion?

Essay Topic 2

Many characters in Tolstoy's stories learn and grow throughout the stories. Analyzing three stories, describe the and compare the kinds of growth Tolstoy portrays: are there commonalities? Is growth always in the direction of moral and spiritual enlightenment? If not, what other kinds of growth does Tolstoy describe?

Essay Topic 3

How does Tolstoy treat the relationship between Russians and others--Chechen, Tartars, Cossacks, Turks? What make Russians Russian? What distinguishes them from the others, and what is the basis for hostility when there his hostility? What stance does Tolstoy take in presenting these relationships? (Sympathetic, critical, nationalistic?)

(see the answer keys)

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